Use Libel Law end publication of Arrest Report.

[Fire Eagle]

Colorado

My state has a criminal libel statute CRS 18-13-105 as well as civil libel statutes. Can I use these laws to have a police department remove a arrest report that is falsely stating that I was arrested for domestic violence. This was not a domestic violence case but protection order involving a neighbor of all things over parking. Since there was a heated exchange at one point the neighbor got a protection order not to park on the street adjacent to his house. The order was a little vague and the neighbor got the police to arrest me for violating the protection order for parking my truck a block away from his house, (Wrong side of the street.), Sending Civil Court papers to his house, (The address I was instructed to send the paper work to in the protection order.), and not recognizing him when I was talking to the records clerk at the police department (He came in behind me).

All the charges were dismissed after I filed a motion in court that all the arrests were improper since the protective order was never violated. (I also got a court appointed attorney and investigator to assist me in the case but that is another story. Their report was damming to the police department.) Officially the DA dismissed the case without acknowledging my motion but my motion was never contested.

Back ground on this is I have a developmental disability a mild form of autism called Aspergers. The disability tends to produce quarks, I emotionally swing and have learning disabilities (Also problems recognizing people and social clues.) which makes it hard for me to work regular jobs and sometimes make some people suspicious of me. I make my living fixing and repairing cars as a mobile mechanic. I have had run ins with the police in the past and cost the city $1/2 million when I filed a corruption complaint against a judge in a junk vehicle case. This particular neighbor with the protection order had been filing city code violation complaints against me to try to force me out of the community. The restraining order was part of this program as well as the police response.

The neighbor has moved away but the police department continues to publish on the States Public Reporting Site (CBI) that I was arrested for, three domestic violence violations, even though the violations were not even domestic violence. (I found out about these publications when a dating site refused to list me because of my history of domestic violence.) The police department is refusing to remove these publications even though they can with a simple letter to the state reporting agency. The state has a very long and expensive process for sealing records even when you are found innocent of the charges. It takes over a year to go though the sealing process and requires public posting of your sealing request and court hearings. Attorneys charge over $3,500 or more to go though the process. I don't have that kind of money.

What I would like to do is get an injunction to stop the public posting of the domestic violence arrest allegations. Is it possible to use my states criminal libel statute CRS 18-13-105 or the Civil Libel statutes to do this? Could I do this in County Court where I know how to file a civil claim and request and injunction? Do it you self information would also be useful.

[quincy]

No. You cannot use the libel laws as a way to get the police department to remove the domestic violence arrests from your record.

Domestic violence is an "add on" charge to orders of protection, made by the police, the district attorney or in court proceedings. If domestic violence was added erroneously to the order of protection, you must follow the procedure for having the erroneous material removed from your record. It does not take an attorney to do this, although having an attorney makes the process easier. You can get low-cost or free assistance from one of the many legal aid clinics that are throughout the state of Colorado.

Protection orders are entered into a computerized central registry by the clerk of the court that issued the order. The registry is accessible to any state or local law enforcement agency. It may have been the clerk of the court that issued the protection order who inadvertantly added the domestic violence arrest when electronically registering your arrest and the protection order, or it may have been the police department.

In order to make corrections, you will need a copy of your arrest record from the police department, and you will need a copy of the court record - you can contact the district attorney's office for the court record. There will be a small fee for the copies. Send a letter, along with the arrest record and the court record and order, to the police department and to the court clerk, stating the problem with the record. Request that the correction be made to the record and on the state registry.

The clerk of the court that issued the protection order updates the registry on a regular basis, to note, for instance, any new protective orders or any orders that have been terminated. Upon notification from the police department, or with the police record and the court record, the clerk can update and correct the registry to indicate the arrest was for a protection order only, and not domestic violence.